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I once heard a fictitious fable.
A person was asked a question during an interview – ‘who do you love more – your country OR God?’ “Both”, he replied.
A question followed – ‘what will you do if someone abuses your God?’ “I will kill that person” was a short response.
Next, the interviewer asked – ‘what will you do if someone abuses your country?’ ‘I will kill that person’ was the response again. As cold as it could be.
The interviewer then led to the final trick question – ‘what will you do if your God abuses your country?’ And without any pause, the response came in a very terse voice – “I will kill God.”
I am not sure which way the above conversation would go if it were to happen in real. Do we (or shall I say) can we exhibit ‘nation-first’ as a default approach, particularly if the choice is between religion and nationality? Especially in times like these when not taking sides is not an option and the relationship between religion and nationality is highly convoluted to say the least. In the middle of all this, the question does arise – how do we then define patriotism or nationalism?
While each of these words have its own dictionary meaning and nuance. For the sake of this article, I am keeping it simple – a single-minded focus on the country’s best interest and the nation-first approach. Whether it’s gushing in pride for every achievement that we as a nation should celebrate (small or big) or equally wanting to fix the problems that we as a country face (small or big), if nation is first for me, I am a patriot.
I am neither talking about doing that necessarily at the cost of other countries or nationalities, nor am I talking about picking up arms in the name of the country’s self-interest. For legitimate reasons we have our armed forces who can do that better, and for other reasons, we have extremists or terrorists to deal with.
I am also not talking about blind, dumb love where being a critique is seen as a crime. There’s always an opportunity to step back and reflect on what we could have done more or can still do as a country.
Very practically, what is it that an average citizen can do in the realm of his influence to exhibit patriotism? In other words, what is it that we can do besides the hashtag friendly captions on 15th Aug or 26th Jan, tricolored inspired fashion clothing, or even cheering for enemy-bashing war movies?
To me it sounds common sense, so let me spill it out. Picture these stupid, simple scenarios:
Do I pay for some things in cash just to avoid paying tax? What’s the implication? OK – I might find the rate of taxation unfair and unjust, but that’s a different problem to solve. But given what’s defined in the law, is the intentional tax avoidance in favor or against the nation’s best interest?
Do I try to eat healthy so I can remain fit? That would mean contributing to the nation’s productivity for longer time, and howsoever small, some contribution to the nation’s economic growth.
Do I spare some time teaching the underprivileged? Howsoever small, does it bring any benefit in addressing the problem of illiteracy?
Do I throw a chocolate wrap on the road after I finish eating? Could I have waited to reach home to dispose of the waste in the bin? Howsoever small, it could have helped in keeping the city clean by reducing at least one piece of wastepaper from the road.
As trivial it may sound – I like to party and spend on eating outside. At least it contributes to the GST collection of my state.
Stupid enough? The examples above are meant to be. Nothing from these equate to the extreme sacrifice that our armed forces are willing to commit to. Nor do these are relatable to the nation building contributions of the countless volunteers, social workers, and civil servants who work tirelessly every day. The point here is simple. Everything that I do, I do with my country’s benefit at the back of my mind. Patriotism is a sentiment not a symbolism.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.